Don’t Drink at Hugs Anymore Because the Owners Are Racists

Thanks to Jen Carlson at Gothamist for calling attention to this sign, which was on display at Williamsburg bar Hugs, until very recently. We’ll probably re-post this every day until the bar goes out of business.

9 Comment

Umm. I could give 2 fudges about defending Hugs, but why automatically jump to racist? That list is also the unofficial dress code for New Jersey if you ask the right people. Call them Zip Codists as well to be fair.

Also before accused of not understanding, I’m a black female who’s been to Hugs and had a reasonable time with the exception of the red light in the bathroom throwing me off.

In fact the bartender that was leaving took his iPod with him and they ended up playing mine for a while and it was full of a mix of things. No one asked me to leave when the block of Clipse songs came on.

I can understand that because the list reads like a profile of one particular person and having a reaction, but the fact that you can find the same language on a club flyer in Bed-Stuy (from an actual flyer: no athletic gear, timberlands, overly baggy clothes, big chains or sneakers,Strict dress code enforced – Very selective – At doorman’s discretion) is what makes it not feel all that inflammatory to me. Poorly worded yes, but so long as a white dude “ironically” wearing a skin tight Raiders tee and a Yankee fitted gets turned away as well then there is no fire. But s you said a response from Hugs is the only way to get a bit more clarity.

The No Bullshit! line definitely could have been omitted. Also NYC isn’t OZ as far as prideful ignorance. It’s also a haven for being brazen..like restaurants that inform you that your mother indeed doesn’t work there instead of “Please clear your table after dining”. Or the bartender reserves the right to charge you based on your attitude instead of “Be Nice, things will go faster”.

Doesn’t matter where you are from time to time the Rhythm will indeed get you.

I’m there RIGHT now with an adjustable yamaka, my ILA union half-shirt, baggie cargos, Nike hi-tops, and dog poop, and I’m STILL getting weird looks. I’m Jewish, and you’re right, this place is totally RACIST!

Missed here is that HUGS is right next to Sea. Sea is one of the few places in the neighborhood that has a huge black clientele. I don’t think it makes sense to over react to all kinds of crap and throw around the bigot charge– and I can’t imagine that HUGS is run by unrepentant bigots. That said, the sign is clearly up there to encourage the largely non-hipster, often black people at Sea to go elsewhere. That is racist. It might not be deliberate– but the kind of lazy, petty, passive bigotry that you can still find in places as generally open minded as NYC.

The clientele of North 6th where Sea and Hugs is on the weekend has changed from hipsters to a more ‘urban’ crowd a few years ago. When Hugs first came on the scene they were the new ‘it bar’ for a few months when all the hipsters went. Then it became so cool it was uncool so everyone stopped going. Then everyone who went to Sea started going. I don’t know what would prompt them to put up the sign, but those type of rules are pretty standard at a lot of Manhattan bars (I know Mike doesn’t go to Manhattan so it might be new to him), but it is never explicitly written on a red neon sign like Hugs. That is in poor taste. Or they have to do is have their bouncers turn people away, which they can and will do whenever they want.

It’s the “we have the right to be selective” line that gets me. It suggests that they’re not just interested in keeping out trouble-makers, but rather that they only let in the right (read: white? rich?) crowd.

Hahaha! you know what’s funny? The bouncers at Hugs who ironically dressed like what the signs say are the ones that created and posted the sign up. They were just tired of dealing with thugs coming in, getting rowdy, stealing and starting fights. The management and the owners wasn’t the ones that put it up, but they did take it down since people can’t & won’t stop gossiping about it. Anyway, I think everyone is buying into the hype too much, and singling out Hugs out of the hundreds of bars that have/ and still has the same sign up. NY I love you but you are bringing me down.